Support to the Thai Office of the Attorney General | INL20GR0026 THAILANDOIG 04092020

Opportunity Information: Apply for INL20GR0026 THAILANDOIG 04092020

The grant opportunity titled "Support to the Thai Office of the Attorney General" is a discretionary U.S. government grant managed by the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). It is designed to strengthen Thailand's prosecution capacity by building longer-term, institution-wide support for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), moving beyond the shorter, topic-specific trainings that have characterized much of the recent cooperation. The opportunity recognizes that Thailand is facing a growing and evolving transnational crime environment and that prosecutors need both solid core courtroom skills and more advanced capabilities to handle complex, cross-border cases effectively.

INL notes that it has already supported the OAG with technical assistance, especially on trafficking in persons (TIP). This new grant is meant to broaden that earlier work into a more comprehensive program that reaches a larger portion of the organization. The OAG is a large national institution with roughly 3,600 to 4,000 prosecutors across the country. While Bangkok hosts several specialized units, including a special litigation unit for transnational organized crime, a narcotics prosecution unit, and a TIP litigation unit, much of the prosecutorial workforce is spread across provincial offices. The proposal is therefore oriented toward improving skills not only among specialized prosecutors in Bangkok but also among prosecutors working outside the capital who may increasingly encounter sophisticated criminal networks and evidence types.

The need for this support is driven by rising caseloads and shifting crime patterns. The OAG is seeing increases in narcotics cases, trafficking in persons, wildlife trafficking, fraud schemes often run through call centers, and cybercrime. Although INL's prior engagement focused mainly on TIP, the OAG and INL Bangkok aim to expand the focus to a wider set of transnational organized crime challenges. The grant emphasizes building capacity to prosecute narcotics trafficking, TIP, and continuing criminal enterprises, while also supporting broader prosecutorial effectiveness for complex investigations and trials.

A major theme of the opportunity is sustainability and institutionalization. INL Bangkok explicitly wants to move toward a comprehensive justice sector program that creates durable impact rather than relying on ad hoc trainings that may not produce consistent improvements across the organization. The grant therefore centers on developing foundational prosecutorial capacity, such as trial advocacy and efficient case prosecution practices, alongside specialized skills needed for complex transnational crime matters. A key deliverable is not just training events, but the creation of curricula and structured training programs that can be used repeatedly and scaled across the OAG over time.

Another central component is the development of local training capability inside the OAG. The project is expected to help establish a cadre of Thai trainers so that the OAG can continue training prosecutors using standardized materials and methods after the grant period ends. This "train the trainer" approach is intended to embed expertise within the institution and reduce reliance on external assistance, which aligns with INL's goal of longer-term engagement and self-sustaining improvements.

The opportunity also reflects the diplomatic and operational context for U.S.-Thai justice sector cooperation. It notes that in recent years Thai government agencies, including the OAG and the judiciary, have shown limited willingness or capacity to work with the United States and have been selective about the types of training they will accept, often preferring specialized topics like TIP and cybercrime. Against that backdrop, the grant positions this project as a critical piece of INL's broader justice sector strategy in Thailand, aimed at rebuilding and deepening engagement while strengthening Thailand's ability to counter transnational organized crime more effectively.

In terms of basic funding details, the opportunity is a grant (not a contract) under CFDA 19.703, with an award ceiling of $500,000. The original closing date listed is June 9, 2020, and the opportunity was created on April 9, 2020. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations and educational institutions with IRS 501(c)(3) status, as well as overseas-based nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations and private or state educational institutions. Overall, the grant is structured to help professionalize and strengthen prosecutorial performance at scale, improve trial advocacy, and expand Thailand's ability to pursue complex transnational crime cases through more consistent training systems and institutional capacity-building.

• The Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Support to the Thai Office of the Attorney General" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.703.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-04-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-06-09. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for INL20GR0026 THAILANDOIG 04092020

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